October 2013 34

DIGITALSUCCESS with Sarah Blinco

logging is big business these days, and it’s no surprise why. Thanks to the Internet everyone is entitled to be their

own media mogul. While it is a little daunting to consider who may (or may not) be interested in reading about your journey, there’s no doubt if you produce interesting, quality and relatable content, readers will come. Aside from fans however, developing a space online offers an opportunity to devise a revenue stream directly from your kitchen table, home office, beach in Hawaii ... or wherever you might like to be. Sound appealing?

Whether you’re wanting to express yourself online because you are bored, want to share, are keen to meet like-minded people or indeed aim to attract additional income, the trick to blogging is to just get started.

Get your bloG on: 11 steps to success

1 Work out your natural rhythm and manage time around it. Are you a ‘morning person’, or is before bed the ideal time to ponder content and write?

2 Eliminate distractions. That is, get offline to write. If the Internet is on, it’s too easy to get distracted by web surfing, Facebook and emails.

3 The challenge of time. No-one ever has enough time and the Internet certainly never sleeps. Quit worrying that maybe ‘now’ isn’t the right time or that you’ll never be able to get it all done. Just do it! Invest 15-minutes a day on blog-related tasks and you’ll make progress slowly but surely.

4 Not an expert? Don’t sweat it. You’ll never know it all, but put aside time to learn skills required, like writing, photography, tech, social media, code... There’s a host of free and

paid options available on and offline, including courses, webinars, eBooks. Remember too, for areas you’re not strong in, seek opportunities to collaborate, co-operate, barter, or simply outsource a little extra help to get you going.

5 Do it because you love it. Don’t compare yourself to other bloggers in your niche. Do your thing, tell it from your perspective and be true to your experience. It’s amazing the number of people who will come out of the woodwork who can/will relate to what you are sharing.

6 Followers slow to catch on? This isn’t so important. Aim to make a difference, be close to heart, not top of mind. Consider how you would like to have an impact on people. As branding expert and author, Bernadette Jiwa, said to us at the conference, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy how it makes them feel”.

7 Don’t imitate how others write; write like you speak − it’s ok to develop your own voice. You want to attract people who ‘get’ you, right?

8 Buy a domain straight up if you are intent on giving blogging a real go. A domain name might be yourname.com or a key-word rich URL that relates to your content, such as iloveshoes.com or streetfashionlove.com. While you can set up a free blog account with a service provider like Blogger.com, if you want to be (semi)professional, best to arrange your custom domain from the get-go.

9 Additionally, your space should be a professional reflection of you. There are various content management systems you may utilise for a website, including WordPress (most

popular) and Joomla. Through these you can choose to manipulate various ‘themes’ with your own content, or you might initially choose to hire a designer to add that extra touch of class.

10 Practice, practice, practice. Blog regularly (at least once a week) − it’s the best way to hone skills and engage an audience. And remember the rule of thumb regarding content creation is to develop material that inspires, instructs and/or entertains.

Darren Rowse, entrepreneur and passionate blogger behind ProBlogger.net, addressed the 450-strong group during this, the fourth and largest Australasian ProBlogger gathering. He urged aspiring pro-bloggers to consider three questions:

1. What is the worst that can happen [if you put yourself out there as a blogger]?

2. What would you do if that happened?3. What would be the best thing that

could happen? Once you are armed with the answers to

these questions, you’ll be prepared for any outcome, and you are also likely to note you have nothing to fear.

Fresh from the sell-out national ProBlogger conference that was held right here on the Gold Coast in September, Sarah Blinco shares insight into how you can get started online and develop a hobby or job you love

BLOGGINGFOR+

funmoney

Want more information on blogging, social media or digital business

opportunities? contact us to register interest in upcoming get-togethers and workshops and we’ll keep you informed when we discover events

that might be of interest: info@getit-magazine.com.au